It is now clear that if professionals are to make a real difference for children and young people, they must be able to engage and communicate with children themselves, not just their parents and carers. Practitioners must be able to listen to children, support them, keep them informed, and fully involve them in matters which concern them. This timely book aspires to prepare social workers and other practitioners for this challenging set of roles and tasks. In particular, it aims to enthuse readers to develop the most powerful resource they have to offer in their direct work with children: themselves.
Setting the scene; The importance of effective communication between children and young people and their social workers; Children and young people's views on what counts as effective communication with them; Some theoretical perspectives on the nature of communication; Communicative capability and how it might be achieved; Appraising capabilities and learning needs in communication with children and young people; Getting the context right for communication; Communication skills for assessment; Observing children and making sense of their play and behaviour; Communicating with children through play, activities and the expressive arts; Communication as the heart of social work.
